Speaking of Jorda, when and where is the last time she has actually raced anything? Looking at her Instagram, she seems to project an image of active racing driver, but her Wikipedia page states she hasn't been active since 2016.

Nothing in '17, and only race in '18 appears to have been in , I kid you not, an Austin Metro...

Speaking of Jorda, when and where is the last time she has actually raced anything? Looking at her Instagram, she seems to project an image of active racing driver, but her Wikipedia page states she hasn't been active since 2016.

And what is wrong with racing an Austin Metro?Nothing in '17, and only race in '18 appears to have been in , I kid you not, an Austin Metro...

This may be damning with faint praise, but Calderon wasn't as bad as I expected in the race. She didn't look out of place among the other F2 non-contenders, certainly not off the back in terms of pace like I thought she might be. She doesn't look competitive, but she also doesn't look woefully out of her depth.

This may be damning with faint praise, but Calderon wasn't as bad as I expected in the race. She didn't look out of place among the other F2 non-contenders, certainly not off the back in terms of pace like I thought she might be. She doesn't look competitive, but she also doesn't look woefully out of her depth.

I suppose I kind of agree with that, but let's be honest: she was stuck in 19th and going nowhere fast until the pitstops began, and only the alternate strategy allowed her to make any kind of progress. That was clearly the strategy to be on if you weren't amongst the frontrunners. Also considering the drive Hubert had, the fact that he's in the same team, also a rookie graduating from GP3 but actually much less experienced, it really does illustrate just how poor her performance was.

I'm interested to see what happens today when she doesn't have the benefit of running a different strategy. Pretty much expecting her to go backwards from 13th today.

Just watching the sprint race and it was much of the same. She has always been a poor qualifier and improved in the race but still nowhere near the points. I agree, she wasn't as poor as I was expecting and was at least amongst the other drivers, albeit at the back.

She isn't an embarrassment at least, unlike Raghunathan who I can only assume was delivering milk on his way around.

This may be damning with faint praise, but Calderon wasn't as bad as I expected in the race. She didn't look out of place among the other F2 non-contenders, certainly not off the back in terms of pace like I thought she might be. She doesn't look competitive, but she also doesn't look woefully out of her depth.

I'm going to be brutal here but that in part is because she doesn't drive fast enough to abuse the tyres so has better tyres towards the end of the race, tyre wear is a particular problem on this track, on other tracks were sheer pace has more importance she will be absolutely nowhere in comparison.

This may be damning with faint praise, but Calderon wasn't as bad as I expected in the race. She didn't look out of place among the other F2 non-contenders, certainly not off the back in terms of pace like I thought she might be. She doesn't look competitive, but she also doesn't look woefully out of her depth.

I'm going to be brutal here but that in part is because she doesn't drive fast enough to abuse the tyres so has better tyres towards the end of the race, tyre wear is a particular problem on this track, on other tracks were sheer pace has more importance she will be absolutely nowhere in comparison.

That's probably very true.

I also wonder if she's perhaps better (or should I say 'less awful'?) running in clean air than she is wheel-to-wheel. In GP3 I noticed a tendency with her to go backwards at the start, then settle down the opening laps. Very similar to what happened in the sprint race yesterday, she dropped like a stone at the start but was then able to stabilise the gap.

I'm going to be brutal here but that in part is because she doesn't drive fast enough to abuse the tyres so has better tyres towards the end of the race

Jenson's Understeer wrote:

That's probably very true.

I'm not convinced that's possible. I have never noticed a slow driver being easier on their tyres - slow drivers tend to put at least as much stress into the tyres, just at the wrong times and in the wrong way. If she was actually driving slowly enough to preserve the tyres simply by not stressing them she would be multiple seconds off of anyone else, as opposed to fitting in with the back of the grid. I think her team has been giving her a run-long strategy in both races, but that's not the same thing.

Chadwick probably has best CV. I see it being between the Chadwick, Moore, Powell and Kimiläinen.

Problem as has been highlighted is that if that happens, what will it achieve? Chadwick has already had decent success against men so what will beating an all female grid show? I guess it keeps her profile up.

The best that could happen for the series is that one of the drivers with less experience/results wins which may suggest they just need the opportunity.

Chadwick probably has best CV. I see it being between the Chadwick, Moore, Powell and Kimiläinen.

Problem as has been highlighted is that if that happens, what will it achieve? Chadwick has already had decent success against men so what will beating an all female grid show? I guess it keeps her profile up.

The best that could happen for the series is that one of the drivers with less experience/results wins which may suggest they just need the opportunity.

Channel 4 are showing the races live.

Well I would have thought put the Champion into a top line F3 team, whichever team was the champions, some woman complain about not receiving enough backing, I noticed the likes of Floresch wasn't really competing in the best F3 team last year.

Also give the woman a fair chance by making it a 2 year contract then she's either good enough or she isn't?

Researching their careers to date there was a pattern. Almost all had reasonable success at national karting level, maybe some low level tin-tops maybe a single-make series, then moved to single-seaters where they barely crack the top 10. Then they make a sideways move generally into national one make series or GT/Endurance. No shame in any of that - it's a similar story for the majority of drivers trying to make a career out of racing. But the point is, that the system has for the most part done it's job, the talent pool has been refined and drivers drop out when they hit their level.

I know pay drivers will progress where other can't, but many of these drivers listed here were given opportunities by sponsors if you look into it. Some repeatedly even when their results didn't on the face it warrant any investment. And I'm not singling them out because I know this happens with male drivers, that's kind of my point - they've had similar opportunities already and made of them what their talent allowed.

I'm as keen as anyone to see a female driver make it to F1 and I wish all in this series the best but I just don't get it...

Researching their careers to date there was a pattern. Almost all had reasonable success at national karting level, maybe some low level tin-tops maybe a single-make series, then moved to single-seaters where they barely crack the top 10. Then they make a sideways move generally into national one make series or GT/Endurance. No shame in any of that - it's a similar story for the majority of drivers trying to make a career out of racing. But the point is, that the system has for the most part done it's job, the talent pool has been refined and drivers drop out when they hit their level.

I know pay drivers will progress where other can't, but many of these drivers listed here were given opportunities by sponsors if you look into it. Some repeatedly even when their results didn't on the face it warrant any investment. And I'm not singling them out because I know this happens with male drivers, that's kind of my point - they've had similar opportunities already and made of them what their talent allowed.

I'm as keen as anyone to see a female driver make it to F1 and I wish all in this series the best but I just don't get it...

I agree that they all are basically not good enough, in the end it will just prove what some of us already know if the object is to make one of them into a F1 driver?

I think you’re better off putting their result at the highest level they’ve competed, rather than their best result in any championship.

Powell for example, winning the Asian Formula Renault series against a bunch of drivers nobody has every heard of doesn’t really mean much. 19th in GP3 is probably a fairer reflection of her ability, when we’re talking about the path to F1.

Just catching up on the F2 races. Calderons retirement in race 1, did the crew really ask her "what's up darling?"

I noticed that too. Not the best look from the team.

Yeah, I mentioned that on Twitter. Hilariously one person was like, "Nothing wrong with that". It's 2019, mate.

Talking of Calderon and embarrassing, her sprint race retirement was exactly that. I get that she's a rookie and perhaps deserves slightly more leeway but honestly, locking up on the first lap trying to go up the inside of two cars into a corner where you can't fit through three wide was laughably bad. And given how far she's been off the pace, all that really seems to do is follow suit with the last six years of her career.

Talking of Calderon and embarrassing, her sprint race retirement was exactly that. I get that she's a rookie and perhaps deserves slightly more leeway but honestly, locking up on the first lap trying to go up the inside of two cars into a corner where you can't fit through three wide was laughably bad. And given how far she's been off the pace, all that really seems to do is follow suit with the last six years of her career.

The only saving grace for Calderon this year is that Raghunathan is there to show you what a really worthless driver looks like...

Chadwick won after going off in the lead on the 1st lap, Powell second holding off the 18 year old Spaniard Garcia who was racing hard.

Impressive from Hawkey in her first ever single seater race but the Japanese Koyoma stood out coming from 17th on the grid to 7th with some excellent overtakes and was running faster than those ahead at the end.

Much more competitive than I expected, I suspect that Chadwick had a fair bit in hand

Chadwick won after going off in the lead on the 1st lap, Powell second holding off the 18 year old Spaniard Garcia who was racing hard.

Impressive from Hawkey in her first ever single seater race but the Japanese Koyoma stood out coming from 17th on the grid to 7th with some excellent overtakes and was running faster than those ahead at the end.

Much more competitive than I expected, I suspect that Chadwick had a fair bit in hand

Me too. Chadwick's experience and confidence shone through. Will be interesting to see if the others start to close up a bit as they get more time in the car.

1) Definite "reality TV" angle at the start at least2) Lack of experience in single-seaters of that performance was notable for many - and understandable3) Not sure about commentator (didn't catch her name) yet but give it time4) Chadwick at this stage look well ahead of the rest5) Garcia could be one to watch6) What was going on with Gilkes' accident where she t-boned Kimilainnen?7) The 3 car liveries is confusing as they represent neither team nor driver. They are swapping cars throughout the season!

Overall I enjoyed it more than I was expecting which was good. What I'm left with though is that once the flag drops, it's simply a one-make single seater race series. Outside of that though I still find it confusing as to what it's trying to be.

1) Reality TV series? 2) Legit racing series where winning drivers progress to bigger better things? 3) Showcase for female talent? 4) A PR to exercise to raise awareness amongst girls who may pick up on it and be more inclined to then go and have a go themselves?5) Opportunity for drivers who otherwise wouldn't have one?

I'm leaning more towards 4 in which case I think it's good. But if it's 2/3 then it will be undermined if the successful drivers then don't progress any further. If it's 5 (as some words in the opening coverage suggested*) I'm not so convinced. They have all had some level of opportunity.

I watched the first W Series race too, and also enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

It's clear there is a massive difference between the best on the grid and the worst. Jamie Chadwick appeared to be well in control (once she'd recovered from going wide on the first lap).

But on the whole it was not a waste of 90 minutes on a Saturday

I agree with Dolomite that if it is trying to be A PR to exercise to raise awareness amongst girls who may pick up on it and be more inclined to then go and have a go themselves then it may well be a worthwhile series.

I've series linked it anyway and will give the next race a watch at least

I enjoyed the W Series race more than I expected to, considering that I've had serious reservations about the whole thing. The introduction was a bit strange and gimicky (I'm guessing that's the reality TV feel that people have mentioned; I haven't watched any reality TV, so I can't compare), but once the lights were off it was an enjoyable single-seater race around the F3 level. It'll be interesting to see if the drivers who are less experienced in single seaters pick up their pace noticably throughout the course of the season, but for now, my bet's on Chadwick - even if she didn't have as easy of a time as I expected her to there.

I believe they're aiming for 2 or 3, in which case time will tell. 4 may well happen regardless.

DOLOMITE wrote:

Just catching up on the F2 races. Calderons retirement in race 1, did the crew really ask her "what's up darling?"

At least there's been none of this sort of thing in the series yet. That was pretty bad. I assumed I'd misheard them...